There Is No Such Thing as “American Exceptionalism”

Who or what gave US President Donald Trump and the Government of the USA the right to set themselves up as the prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner of the Government of Syria? The short and simple answer is that neither President Trump nor the US Government possessed any such right!

International Law stipulates that it is the United Nations Security Council — a body that represents the Will of the entire community of nations — that possesses the right and responsibility to determine whether a breach of the peace or an act of aggression has been carried out by any nation or regime, and whether a punitive armed response is required.

Thus, if it is being alleged that the Assad governmental administration of Syria carried out an inherently illegal chemical weapons attack on the people of Syria, it is the responsibility of the UN Security Council to investigate the matter; to make a determination of innocence or guilt; and if guilt is established, to decide upon the appropriate response and punishment.

Virtually the entire World Community accepts that this is the settled International Law position. But not the USA! No, not a country that has wedded itself to the delusional and manifestly fraudulent doctrine of “American Exceptionalism”. President Trump and virtually every other member of the US Establishment is capable of casually dismissing out-of-hand the settled, positive logic and rationality of International Law by engaging in a form of delusional “pseudo – logic” that goes something like this:-

“The USA is a special and inherently ‘good’ nation. And since the USA is an inherently “good” nation, it means that its actions and policies will always be based on and for “the good”. Thus, the ordinary rules of International Law do not apply to the USA, and the USA is therefore at liberty to take unilateral action to impose its inherently “good” policies on a backward and wicked world”.

This is the kind of warped “logic” that President Obama used to justify his sending of drones half-way around the world to assassinate men and women who have never been tried and convicted in any Court of law, and

to do so even if it means killing dozens of totally innocent children, women and men who simply happen to be in the locality of the assassination target when the missiles come raining down.

No doubt, this is also the kind of warped “logic” that Trump used to justify last night’s “punitive” missile strike on Syria.

And mind you, this kind of “logic” comes from a nation that has committed genocide against its native people; that enslaved Africans for almost 250 years; that inflicted segregation and lynching on black Americans for over 100 years; that is the only nation on earth to drop atomic bombs on human beings; that used chemical weapons against the Vietnamese and other Asians; and that has illegally intervened in and invaded scores of countries, among a host of other crimes.

As much as we may dislike President Assad of Syria and his Administration we all still need to say loudly and firmly to US President Donald Trump that the US is NOT an exceptional country, and that like every other country in the world, the rules of International Law apply to it too! If we fail to do so, we will actually be promoting the “Law of the Jungle” where “might makes right” and small nations like ours have no rights that need be respected.

By unilaterally launching a missile attack on Syria Donald Trump has actually committed a crime under International Law.

And if International Law is to have any meaning or validity all responsible governments of the world must now call upon the United Nations Security Council and the International Criminal Court to launch War Crimes investigations against both Presidents Trump and Assad and their Administrations.